


Fallout 2416

by CyclonicJet



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-09-15 21:15:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16940865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyclonicJet/pseuds/CyclonicJet





	1. March 4th 2416 - Ruby Gorge

He walked along the narrow pathway dented into the cliff face. It, like everything else out here, was a deep rusted red. The sound of gun fire echoed up from the canyon below. Instinctively he crouched down to lay on his front, then moving carefully to suppress the noise of his ranger armour he moved towards the edge. Shouldering his rifle he gazed down into the valley below. A contingent of four armoured troops were finishing off gunning down a pack of giant mole rats. It was a band of Brotherhood Knights. The unmistakable shape of there T-88 Power Armour was all he needed to see to know as such.

They had been sending out ever more patrols over the last few months, slowly beginning to make inroads into the territory. Seems like they were finally ready to start making the jump over the river. This was bad. The last time the NCR and Brotherhood had been in any real contact with each other had been nigh on a century ago, and had ended with the total annihilation of the West Coast chapters. The remnants of the western brotherhood had fled into the east, joining up with there much stronger base on the other coast.

In the time between then and now though, the NCR had continued its eastward march, while the Brotherhood had done much the same in the opposite direction. Now at last the two groups were meeting in the middle. The wasteland was now very firmly split between areas of NCR dominance and that of Brotherhood control, with only the mighty Mississippi river dividing them. The only thing tempering the Steel from it’s ugliest inclinations these days, as far he could tell, was the pseudo-alliance the Brotherhood had formed with the ever expanding Commonwealth. The Commonwealth itself having also expanded massively in the last one hundred and thirty years. It rumours were to believed it was a fairly uneasy alliance, more of convenience than anything

But the greater politics of the wasteland were none of his concern. He had a job to do and that was enough for him. It just so happened that his job involved monitoring Brotherhood activity in the region, keeping tabs on what they were doing. It wasn't the most exciting job in the world admittedly. Long hours spent tracking patrols and tracking across dust bowls. The only real excitement he saw was the occasional need to hide, using his armours in built stealth function, to avoid Brotherhood Vertibirds. But thus far all the units he had tailed hadn't done anything out of the ordinary for Brotherhood scouts.

They simply marched across the wastes in there never ending pursuit of old world tech. This was in spite of the fact that the last century had seen some truly major advances in the fields of science and technology. In some cases even surpassing the old world. But the Brotherhood remained practically dogmatic in there never ending drive to plunder any and all remaining mysteries of the past. It was that drive that had seemingly attracted the Knights to this gorge today. He watched as they abruptly halted and began to search the opposing wall of the canyon. What they thought they had found he couldn't tell, it was just a featureless stone wall to his eye.

It was totally bare and featureless, except for a large boulder pressed up against its base, which now that he considered it looked remarkably out of place. So it was with much curiosity that he watched as three of the knights began pushing on it in an attempt to roll it out of the way. It became swiftly apparent that even with the servos on the power armour pushed to the extreme it would not budge. The fourth member, the one not pushing, lifted there arm seemingly signalling the others to stop. After a further moment of unseen communication one of them extracted a satchel charge from an ammunition pod they were dragging around with them. They climbed the rock and wedged it between the cliff and the boulder. Once they had climbed down the group moved a few paces back, taking shelter in a small ditch in the canyon floor. Then they detonated the charge.

The ground beneath him shook as the sound of the explosion and grinding rocks reverberated all throughout the canyon. An expanding bubble of dust blocked any view of where the boulder had lay, it even pushed far enough out from the cliff that he lost visual contact with the knights as well. Two full minutes ticked by before he could at last see through the haze to see what had happened. The boulder had been wedged into a small alcove in the rock face, and within said alcove were steel lined walls and a sealing door hanging loose of its frame. The boulder itself had simply rolled off further down the ravine.

The Knights themselves had vanished, they must have entered while his view was obscured. There was not much else for it now but to wait for them to return he supposed. It left him time to wonder though, who had set the boulder there, and why? What secrets lay within? He smiled to himself, perhaps at last he was beginning to slightly better understand his wards endless desire to plumb these ancient ruins.

Time passed, the sun shimmied across the sky, peaking and then starting to lower. He checked the time on his visor, 5 hours had now passed, either the facility was a lot bigger then he had imagined, or the knights had got into some trouble. As the sun began to near the horizon he started to consider packing up, he could simply report the location back at command and tell them the Knights were likely wiped out inside whatever facility this was. He briefly entertained the idea of following them inside to find out what had happened, but quickly rejected it. If four Brotherhood Knights in full power armour had been unable to deal with what lay within, he stood even less chance.

He was about to click off his rifle's aim when movement caught his attention, one of the knight emerged from inside and started setting up some sort of portable radio dish from one of there packs. This didn't bode well he thought to himself. Sure enough a few minutes later the sound of whirling blades met his ears, to be safe he engaged the stealth element of his suit, it was good for at least two hours on the charge available.

Two vertibirds crested over the top of the cliff behind him, leisurely descending down towards the knight, who at seeing them ran back into the facility. As the vertibirds landed two of the knights emerged carrying a box like object about the size of a large table between them. Carefully placing it on the ground, the crews of the vertibirds sprang too and started to affix hooks and other straps to it, tying it between the two choppers. A few more minutes past and the sun at last vanished beneath the curve of the Earth, plunging the world into dusk. He considered leaving now, but he wanted to see if he could determine what it was they were taking from the place, plus he wanted to minimise the chances of being caught. So instead he decided to simply wait till they had secured whatever it was and left before moving to leave

Thirty minutes passed and they had made no move to leave yet. That was strange he thought, they had the object secured now and they were all just milling about outside. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen. Then he heard something new, something that chilled his veins. The soft rattle and roar of jet engines. Light flooded the valley as a Brotherhood airship appeared over the opposing escarpment, its high beam lights directed at the activity below. Several more vertibirds followed behind it and began either lowering into the valley also, or flying up and down it to check for any hostiles.

This was the worst case scenario. It was now far past time for him to bug out, the last thing the NCR needed was the Brotherhood to know they were being watched. He started clambering backward, he had gotten on to this path by climbing down from above. He now had no real choice now but to do the same in reverse. He stood up and began to retrace his steps, looking for the place that had allowed him down. It was about two hundred meters back up the path, but the footholds were hard to distinguish in the dark. He clicked active his night vision to better see them.

However he didn't dare disengage his stealth unit. That left him with the odd issue of having no perception of his hands, he'd have to climb without being able to see exactly where they were going. It soon became apparent that the ability to see where your hand were going was just a crucial as visualising it. He had only managed to struggle up the first third of the cliff when a spotlight from a passing vertibird glanced over the path he had just ascended from not three minutes earlier. He responded by freezing, if any loose stones were seen tumbling down the cliff face it would certainly garner suspicion.

But the light passed without pause, seemingly more interested in following the natural curve of the path then searching the sheer face above it. He continued his clamber, slowly but surely he made progress. It was about three quarters of the way up that disaster struck, one of his footholds came loose and broke off. It fell away, tumbling down the side of the cliff. It might have gone unnoticed had it not then also dislodged other rocks that fell in a veritable cavalcade, generating a noise to match. He froze again. Flood lights began scanning the cliff, searching for any sign of what could have caused such a ruckus.

Once, twice, three times the lights passed over him without pause. Only his camouflage unit was protecting him now. It took a whole four minutes for the spotters curiosity to be satisfied, to conclude it had only been a loose rock coming free of the wall. The lights returned to the canyon at last, he resumed his sluggish climb. It had taken him the better part of an hour to do it, but at last he clambered over the lisp at the top and on to solid ground once more.

He was exhausted, ready to lay down and sleep, but not here, he still had to move. He took one last glance down into the hive of activity that the canyon had become, then turned on his heel and began running at a soft jog back into the brush land that surrounded the area. As he jogged he couldn't help but wonder what could have caused such a stir amongst them. What had they found down there?


	2. March 9th 2416 - NCR Eastern Command

"...so as you can see from the reconnaissance images highlighted here, and from the verbal testimonies of several scouting parties, the Brotherhood of Steel have indeed set up a forward base of operations within the Ruby Gulch." The command outpost was quiet after the lieutenant finished giving his report. The general leaned back in his chair with his hands locked contemplatively. This was now verging into a crisis, the Mississippi had been the proverbial Rubicon for nigh on thirty years, and now the Brotherhood had not only flouted that line, they were actively ignoring it. The die had indeed been cast. "Do we have any kind of understanding at all as why they chose this spot in particular?" he asked. "The reports make mention of an old world facility, but not much else seems to be known."

The lieutenant seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying. "No sir, I'm afraid not." he said. "The area was hardly mapped before the Brotherhood started setting up shop. Finding out now seems even more unlikely." The general nodded in response, returning to his quiet contemplation.

"It's regardless whether we know the reason or not!" his lieutenant commander cried leaping to his feet. "We can not allow a flagrant breach of our borders like this to go unpunished! We must move now and expunge them immediately!"

"We can't." the general said flatly. "It was never officially NCR territory, it has always been just beyond the border region."

"Irrelevant! The Brotherhood knew that where the territory was ours in all but name! They knew full well that everything west of the Mississippi was ours to control! In my eyes that makes it as good as a declaration of war!" he continued to blather on. The general felt a vain beginning to pulse in his temple, the idiot was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Any move made against the Brotherhood will result in a full retaliatory strike." he replied calmly, yet with a very clear edge to his voice. "You know that as well as I do."

"Then we will launch our own retaliation!" the lieutenant commander cried.

"A tit for tat." the general replied, a definite heat tinged his voice now. "If you want to see where that path ends then I advise you to step outside and look around. That particular lesson has been scorched into the ground itself!" He took a breath, he had to remain calm, stay in control the situation. Otherwise madness would surely win the day.

The other man stared at him indignantly. "So you would sit here instead and do nothing!?" he asked incredulously. "Allow lands that are rightfully ours be taken by these armour jockeys!? Well I tell you now sir I will not stand for it." Before the general could respond the man stormed out of the room. He sighed to himself. He feared he had not heard the end of this particular conversation, that this was only the beginning of something very grim, and where it may yet lead he feared more then anything.


	3. March 12th 2416 - Brotherhood Outpost "Red Valley"

Maylene stretched, a loud yawn escaping her. The sun had broken the horizon and another wondrous day of studying ancient artefacts awaited her. Climbing out of bed she got washed, or what passed for washing out here, and then dressed. This had hardly been the deployment she had wanted. Tales had reached her ear of others getting ready to go on the first overseas voyage in what must have been centuries. The Brotherhood had at last managed to get one the old world aircraft carriers operational again, now it would sail north first to test it was truly seaworthy.

That was where she wanted to be. It was exciting, it was new, but most importantly, it was safe. Her very presence here was a statement and she knew it. The leaders of the Brotherhood had made this gamble in hopes that it would provide a buffer zone between them and the expanding NCR. The discovery of the abandoned enclave base had simply provided the perfect operational excuse to do so. But she was no fool, it was beyond dangerous to be stationed here. The NCR were surely not going to accept this lying down.

But she was just a mere scribe. She went where she was ordered to go, and here she was for her sins. Stepping out of the barracks she proceeded to walk past the defensive line of barriers, sentinels, robots, and automated turrets. She made straight for the tent which had been set up in front of the entrance to the base.

Pulling back the flap she was met with a synthetic voice. "Good Morning Scribe Dayton" the automatron said without any hint of emotion. "An excellent day for continued study."

She didn't respond, simply walking past and on into the facility. Despite her trepidation of everything going on outside of this base, she had to admit what was going on inside was still incredibly exciting. The records indicated the Enclave had only abandoned the facility some sixty years earlier, with indication the scattered and few remnants of the force had been heading north to regroup. That was fine by her, since they had left a lot of interesting stuff behind in their rush to leave.

They appeared to have been looking into a new type of computer system, something that would have been on par with the advent of nuclear fusion in trans-formative nature. The only other place this has ever been seen was the remains of New York, some R&D firm had built an elaborate facility that had stretched out beneath the Hudson river itself. It had been filled with similar technological wonders. It was the same tech that now powered the current T-88 models. Now, with this wealth of new data stored here, it looked like they had a chance to make another quantum leap forward with this technology.

So she got stuck in. Working alongside her fellow scribes, taking notes, studying computer logs, and attempting to understand the concepts the Enclave had been wrestling with themselves. It was around four pm that everything suddenly went, as she would later recount, "to shit."

The base alarms blared and armed units ran past her moving towards the entrance several floors above them. The ground shook from what must have been violent explosions going off outside the base, she gathered herself and ran upwards as well. She was halfway up the facility before a paladin blocked her path.

"What's happening?" she asked breathlessly, several of her fellow scribes panting equally beside her.

"We're locked up in here" he said flatly. "The NCR finally took issue with us being here and attacked, the operations base outside has been wiped out. The survivors have retreated in here and the external doors have been secured. So we all better get used to living shoulder to shoulder for a while, cause it looks like they're setting up to siege us out of here."

She couldn't believe it. They were now effectively hostages, holed up in a mountain fortress. The NCR and Brotherhood were now sure to go to war, and she caught right in the middle of it. She wished now more then ever she had been assigned to the carrier...


	4. March 13th [Pre-Dawn] - Brotherhood Central Command (Pentagon, Washington, DC)

She marched through the halls with a grim determination in her gait, she had been awoken to the most foul news possible. Her gamble had failed. Attendants ran at her side feeding her a slew of information, constant updates were pouring in and she needed to keep abreast of them. "See to it the Knight Sentinel and the Head Scribe are woken immediately, I want them in the operations room in 15 minutes and no later." she said aloud, knowing someone listening would run off to follow her command.

Ever since the renovation commissioned by her farther some forty years earlier, the building had become a veritable beehive of activity, akin to what it must have been like before the bombs dropped. But everyone stopped to make way for her, bowing and sliding out of the way. She marched into the central operations room and took her seat at the head of the table, active reports were still rolling in on screens dotted around the room, detailing all the major actions the Brotherhood were currently engaged in.

While she waited for her comrades to arrive she continued consulting the endless slew of data, trying to put together a puzzle without all the pieces. The assault on the forward outpost had always been a distinct possibility, but she had expected there to be some form of political outreach first. That was standard NCR protocol, she had planned to use that to open negotiations in her favour. But this attack appeared a little too reckless for the NCR, it was completely outside of normal procedure.

She began to have the sneaking suspicion that elements of the NCR were no longer working quite as cohesively as the leaders back in California tried to make it appear. This assault felt more like a renegade action, perhaps some leader or military official out near the border had taken particular offence to there incursion, but it was all just theory at the moment. She could not rule out the possibility she had truly angered the upper leadership back West and they were taking a firmer stance this time.

It had always been difficult for her to keep track of NCR policy, almost as much as keeping track of Commonwealth policy. The constant shuffling of leaders was tiresome on her, she had long stopped caring to remember the names of all the members currently seated in the reformed congress, only keeping tabs on whoever presided over it at the particular moment.

Her stream of thought was interrupted by the arrival of those she had summoned. They took there respective places along the table as additional, slightly lower ranked individuals, also took their seats. One or two visiting elders from other parts also shuffled in to join in on the proceedings. Once they were all seated she nodded to the lieutenant standing by the door who immediately jumped forward and began giving the most up to date report possible on the events at Red Valley. She and the rest sat in silence, holding the numerous questions they were possessed of while he rattled off his report.

By the time he was done it appeared he had satisfied most of the questions they had intended to ask. With another nod she dismissed the lieutenant. He left, a palpable look of relief written across his face. Only once the door sealed shut behind him did she speak. "We find ourselves now pressed into unfortunate circumstances. We can not abandon our people to besiegement or capture, nor can we allow this bloodshed to go unpunished. However, equally we can not provoke the bear into full scale war. If other scouting reports are accurate then we face an equally grave threat from the tundra's to the north, which we can no longer ignore."

She allowed that to sit for a moment before one of the elders asked, "Forgive me Head Elder, but what kind of threat are talking about here?" The last few years she had been dreading answering that question, it had only been exacerbated with the knowledge discovered in the Ruby Valley.

"While we have sat down here idle for the better part of nigh on one hundred and fifty years now, slowly rebuilding this blasted wasteland, other have not been so idle. One of the Brotherhood's oldest rivals have been lying in the shadows, rebuilding themselves, regaining their strength." She paused. What came next would change everything. She took a breath. "The Enclave have re-emerged. Like vermin they have endured, and now they seek to once again wage war against us." she proclaimed.

Silence reigned, they clearly had not been expecting that. After a shirt while one of her fellow elders finally brokered up the courage to speak. "We destroyed the Enclave. Did we not?" he asked addresing the whole table. "Our ancestors destroyed them for good and all in the glorious battle of Nellis."

"So we thought, but it would seem that all we did was ruin the central command. We scattered them to be sure, the remaining forces unsure of how to respond. But it would seem in the chaos someone managed to reclaim command, because they managed to successfully and thoroughly vanish from the world. Or at least they made it appear as such."

"You really think they spent the past one hundred and fifty years regrouping!?" demanded one of the elders.

"I think the seriousness of the blow we dealt them warranted it. The Enclave have proven in the past they are nothing if not patient. They now see the state of things clear as we do though. The West and East are meeting in the middle, and they are going to try to capitalise on this fact." Now came the delicate part she thought to herself.

"Hence the operation to Ruby Valley." She considered carefully how to word the next part. "I had hoped the forward base across the Mississippi would have opened dialogue, but that seems to have backfired on account of movements within the NCR we could not foresee." The last thing she need to convey was that she had made the wrong decision, she needed no one questioning her at a time like this.

"What was the aim of such a move if you knew the Enclave were massing against us!?" cried one of the lesser commanders. She fixed the man with a glare and he quickly subsided, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"As it so happens I had hoped it would give us a chance to nip in the bud the issue of the NCR before it had a chance to become a problem. We need a buffer zone between us and them, and we can not wait while their politicians spend endless years debating it. So I moved to force the issue. To get it dealt with. Now." That had been her hope, but now she was looking at the prospect of two wars on two fronts, she could not afford to stretch the Brotherhood that thin, not with the internal issues with the Commonwealth ever looming over them.

"So, the movement of the carrier north is not truly for sea trails then is it." said her head scribe.

She nodded at him politely, it was nice to see her pick for the position had not been a poor one, here was a man who thought. "No, it's tasking orders are to way lay any incursion, working in tandem with forces positioned along the northern borders." He nodded at that, seeming to retreat back into thought. In fact the entire group seemed to have become complacent in contemplation. That did not serve her well right now at all.

"So you have now all heard the facts as we know them! What do you, ladies and gentlemen, think our response should be to these matters." She had assembled them to get there thoughts, not sit around and think like scholars of old.

The next hour was an endless swarm of ideas and thoughts. Occasionally interjected by raised voices and verbal threats, but on the whole as she left to return to her quarters she thought it had gone pretty well. Throughout all the arguing and shared opinions, she had sat mostly silent. A plan had slowly taken shape in her head as each new voice had helped mould it. Now she had something workable, she knew her next step. Which was hell of a lot further ahead then she had been when she had been awoken not two hours earlier.


	5. March 13th [Dusk] - NCR Holding Facility

"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF BEING A TRAITOR!" the lieutenant general roared. "WHAT I DID IS THE WORK OF A DAMNED PATRIOT!"

"Taking surreptitious control of an army battalion...using falsified order documents... and lying to all the men in the regiment is not. What I'd call. PATRIOTIC!" the general finished with a bellow.

The man grabbed the bars of his cage and spat on the ground at his feet, "You wouldn't know patriotism if danced naked in front of you." he sneered. That was enough for the general now, he was only here to read the man the reprimands being balsted down upon him for his actions.

"I have no more care for what you have to say. You have been stripped of all command and rank, and will remain under guarded lock until such time a full tribunal is set up." Before the now former lieutenant general could respond he turned on his heel and left the cells area. The throbbing pain in his head was now a persistent feature of his life, he wished he could slip away and sneak in a few hours of sleep.

But that was impossible, he had a possible Brotherhood counterattack to worry about. Once the full extent of what had happened become known to NCR command, they had moved to intercede immediately. But it had been far too late. The forces had been recalled, and a full withdrawal had taken place earlier that day following the lieutenant generals arrest. But they has attacked the Brotherhood first. Unprovoked. An envoy had been dispatched to cross the Mississippi to try and open formal contact with the Brotherhood. He wasn't so certain that the man chosen would be coming back alive, but they had to try.

He walked into the war room and sat down watching the holographic map in front of him. It depicted the river, the valley, and surrounding area. "Any news on movements in the valley?" he asked the nearest subordinate.

"None sir." she responded. "The Brotherhood is staying buried down there like ticks as best we can tell. Probably waiting for reinforcements."

"What of the river, any out of the ordinary activity taking place on that front?"

"Again sir none. We have no indication of anything unusual occurring."

He continued to stare at the map, usually the Brotherhood would have responded quickly to such a distress beacon from there own people. But then again that was usually against raiders or other small remnant forces, not the NCR. Whoever was leading them was playing this slow and steady. The throbbing in his head continued to pulse, maybe he should get some sleep, staying up all night and exhausting himself would serve no purpose.

Rising from his chair he informed the watch crew of his intentions and left the room, he had barely made it halfway back towards his quarters when a runner came stamping down the hall behind him. "Sir! Sir!" he yelled breathlessly. "The Brotherhood are doing something on the other side of the river!"

He immediately turned about and ran back to the war room. A voice was playing on the speaker system "...about three of them I'd say. They appear to be...oh my god." the female voice stopped cold mid sentence.

The general picked up the communicator from the officer manning it. "Repeat ranger. What is the situation?"

"General sir! Sorry! I have made visual contact with three Brotherhood Air-Battleships, and they aren't alone sir. They've got a..." her voice trailed off again.

"Got a what ranger?" He was trying very hard to remain calm with the ranger and the constant abrupt halts.

"I think it's a Liberty Prime model sir. But it looks like none of the ones we've seen before."

The general's heart seized, this was bad. They only had a few of those walking death machines, kept most of them as internal security, deployment to the front line was a rare occurrence. "How do you mean we haven't seen it before?" he asked with some trepidation.

"It's bigger sir, about 30-40% I would hazard. It's possible it's a new model." The sound of roaring jets filled buzzed over the speakers now. "Oh shit! Sir! There's an active deployment of fighter jets too, this is starting to look like an invasion force!"

The pulse in his head was now worse then ever. It was made all the worse by the fact he knew he was not going to be getting any sleep tonight.


	6. March 15th - Commonwealth Parliament building [Boston]

Adrian sat behind his desk and felt like crying and laughing at the same time. "Let me get this straight." he said. "You want me, to act as an envoy, to the NCR, on behalf of both the Commonwealth and the Brotherhood? You must be joking. You're joking right! Because that is the most insane plan I've ever heard."

"Look" replied Senator Luhan. "The envoy from the NCR has come offering us apologies and a desire to resolve this issue diplomatically. Peacefully and without further bloodshed. To do that we need to send someone from our own end as a show of good faith."

He sighed and massaged his temples. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew why he was being asked to do this. "So why me exactly."

"Well, your ties to the NCR aren't-"

He exploded. "I knew it! You're just using my damn family name! It's not that I'm the best man for the job is it! I should have known that-"

"Damn it Adrian!" the other man interjected. "You are the best man for the job! The fact your grandfather held clout in the NCR is certainly an added boon in the matter, but you have more experience crafting successful negotiations then anyone else in this building!" He took a breath before continuing. "And right now we need a man like that! The Brotherhood are amassing an apparent invasion force on the banks of the Mississippi and the NCR is getting twitchy about it."

Adrian sighed again and fell back into chair, once more massaging his temples. At times like this he really wished his last name wasn't Moore. Wished he'd been born to some nobody out in the wastes, but fate hadn't been that kind to him.

He had had to work everyday of his damned life to get this far, to escape his past and try and make a difference else where in the world. But now it was all catching up with him again, as he always feared it would.

Thinking aloud he said "Let's say I accept this offer, what exactly do you want from me."

Pulling a piece of paper from within his suit the senator started to read it aloud. "In the role of envoy, one Adrian C. Moore, will be utilised to establish diplomatic ties with the NCR. In the immediate he is expected to negotiate a peace treaty between Commonwealth, Brotherhood, and NCR forces to avoid any potential conflicts. Following the success of this assignment, he is to lay down the foundations for future diplomatic missions with the NCR, with the long term aim of establishing a permanent embassy."

"Oh great, so nothing to difficult then." he replied sarcastically. He had brought this on himself as much as anything, he had stepped on too many superiors toes on his rise here. Pushing for reforms and protections for the average waste-lander had garnered him few friends amongst the elite in Boston. All he had wanted to do was to help people.

"Look Adrian. I know it's a tough ask, but you have spent your entire political career trying to help the people of the wasteland." Adrian briefly entertained the idea of wondering whether the senator could read his mind. "But now they need your help more then ever. If a war breaks out who do you think will suffer the most?"

He had pinned him. That was what Adrian had always liked least about politics, the clever word play and subtle moves, it had never been his forte. He sat in silence for a moment lost in thought. Then thinking of no real way out of this, no way in any case that wouldn't weigh forever on his conscience, he nodded. "Very well, I will serve as this envoy. How long do I have to prepare?"

The senator grinned. "Vertibird is already waiting on the pad for you."


	7. Date Unknown - Northern Territories (Former Canadian Quebec Region)

Kells trudged through the snow, the soft crunch beneath her environmentally adapted ranger armour the only sound audible within the dense wood. She played with the radio dials again, more garbled static blasted out as it had done every other time, but this time she thought she could almost discern a voice through it. She still wasn't sure what this signal was, but something was broadcasting out here and she needed to find out what.

She had never been one to lack a little backbone, but even she had to admit this scouting mission was getting creepier by the day. Beyond the strange transmission there was the fact she was surrounded by a forest of living, breathing trees. Ever since the bombs had dropped seeing plants grow like this was unheard of. By all rights the area should have been a barren wasteland of snow, but here they were. A forest of trees growing alive and well.

It wasn't right, it was unnatural. But then so was the total lack of radiation within the woods themselves. Her geiger counter hadn't ticked once since she had stepped foot in the forest three days ago. This was the most unnerving thing of all, to find a place so sterile. It was almost as if the bombs had never touched this place, the radiation unable to pass the bounds of the tree line.

Her troubled thoughts were interrupted by the radio humming again as a heavily distorted voice buzzed through the static, "...rendezvous at...contamination protocols are to be...Starfall will commence at twenty one hundred hours sharp...". What any of that meant she couldn't say, was it an old transmission from before the great war? There were countless like it scattered around the wasteland, but it seemed strange that it could have remained operational this long so far north. There was only one way to find out though.

As she continued her trek the light of the sun began to fade and the shadows of the trees lengthened around her. In short order the world around her entered into twilight, and stars began to sparkle above the quiet forest. But in the distance, high above the tree line, a glow persisted where darkness should have reigned. Then, wafting through the woods, came the sounds of people and machinery at work. She stopped and covered herself behind a tree looking away from the source of the noise. This was no old world transmission, there were people out here, apparently well organised people.

Lowering the volume on the radio she again tuned into the signal she had been chasing for days now and now at last, for the first time, heard it come though crystal clear. "All troops are to be loaded and ready for push out fifteen minutes before operation commencement. All units departing are to rendezvous at position Halcyon. In accordance with directive Sigma-Green, contamination protocols are to be observed at all times, accidental exposure will result in summary execution. Operation Starfall will commence at twenty one hundred hours sharp."

She was as lost as ever as to what any of it meant, but now she knew she had to get a closer look. She needed concrete information before making her way back to the Brotherhood with any of this. She checked the charge on the stealth unit she carried to make sure it would last for the time she needed, forty minutes of charge was all it read, it would have to do.

Carefully shifting out and around she stalked herself closer to the sounds. The light began filtering through the trees more clearly, and when she was at last close enough to start hearing voices clearly, she flicked the stealth boy unit on.

No sooner had she activated the active camouflage then she was forced to freeze solid as the sound of a tree branch snapping to her right reached her ears. Two guards walked out from among the trees twenty feet away from her. "...sensors tripped out here. But I don't see shit." one of them said.

"Must have been a malfunction, damn software has always been buggy, gives as many false positives as it does genuine ones."

"Well whatever, just another thing for the techies to work on."

They walked right passed where she was standing, the darkness veiling the impressions her feet were creating in the snow from them. As they turned back towards the base she caught in a glimpse of there armour in the reflected light of the base and her eyes widened. The symbol emblazoned on there shoulder pads was that of the Enclave. Every Brotherhood initiate was taught about the Enclave, and most crucially they were taught how the remnants of the organisation had been wiped out well over one hundred years ago.

But yet here they were, en masse and well organized. How could they have stayed hidden from the rest of the world for so long? And more importantly, what were they doing out here? If what she had read of there history was accurate, it was definitely nothing good. But she would get no answers unless she got closer still, so once the sound of crunching snow from the guards had receded she pressed forward once again.

She soon reached the perimeter of the tree line and was met with a large clearing separating the complex from the treeline. The complex itself was completely encircled with a razor wire fence that ran what looked like the entire perimeter. Beyond it she could see multiple different people moving around. Some were loading trucks with supplies, others marshalling squadrons into order, and some were just running from building to building. It was a veritable beehive and it was obvious they were preparing to move out on a major operation.

She needed a better perch if she was going to see anything truly useful, so she started climbing the tree next to her. The branches creaked as she clambered , but the noise of the machines covered her. She only stopped when at last she poked her head out of the leaves near the top. If she had been stunned before, she was in shock now. Peering over the main operations base, she could now see a second separate base about two kilometres further away still. It was what was sitting at the heart of it that caused her to gape dumbstruck. It was a rocket. Of all the things she had seen today, including the Enclave having come back from the dead, this was the most ludicrous. Space travel hadn't occurred for near three hundred and fifty years now. It was ridiculous to think it would ever happen again.

Pulling her rifle off her back she scoped in to get a clearer view. It stood tall, and was bathed in light by flood lights from every direction. What looked like steam was pouring out of of one side of it. But otherwise there was no movement near it, in fact she couldn't even see anyone at the second base. That was peculiar. Why would they set up an entire complex but have no one stationed there?

The sudden sound of trucks rolling across the ground below caught her attention. Looking down she watched as multiple vehicles began departing there stations and trundling away out of the base. She checked her clock, it was twenty one hundred hours. A bright light suddenly blazed at the second base followed swiftly by the sound of booster engines igniting.

Pulling out of her scope she watched as the rocket blasted self off its pad and lumbered its way into the sky. As she watched the rocket accelerate faster and faster, as it ascended ever higher, she couldn't help but whisper to herself "What the fuck are these guys up to?"

After a time the rocket at last vanished into the night and became another twinkling star in the heavens. She started back down at the base to see most of the forces had now departed, it seemed only a small contingent remained to guard it. She started to think 'Maybe I could sneak in-', when a warning light began flashing in her helmet. She only had five minutes of stealth time remaining. There was nothing for it then, she would have to retreat for now. Clambering back down she swiftly melted away back into the trees. The information she now carried was beyond value, her only priority now was getting it back to command.


	8. March 19th - Brotherhood Command Airship [Stationed over eastern Mississippi river bank]

Samantha stood upon the prow of the airship, watching Brotherhood forces mill about below along the rivers edge. Along the opposite banks she could see the hastily erected fortifications that had been erected, a swift response by the NCR as they scrambled to prepare for the feared invasion. It was an invasion she hoped to never have to launch. When she had revealed her plan to the council the response had been positive. It achieved a greater part of the Brotherhood's goals while sacrificing little. She had however met a much larger resistance when she had indicated she would be overseeing the operation personally from the front.

"You can't station the high elder on the front lines! That's madness!" one of her incredulous fellow elders had said. 'Bah.' she thought. The Steel had grown soft over the last century, as its leaders had fallen ever further behind the front line of expansion and away from its immediate dangers. It was her duty to re-forge the dulled steel, as her ancestor Arthur Maxson had once done. Under her command the Brotherhood would be tempered strong once more. So she would lead by example, as all great leaders did. If that required her to command from the front lines, then that's what she would do. 

The captain suddenly appeared beside her, joining her in her observations of the situation below. "Elder Maxson." she stated simply.

"Captain." Maxson responded.

After a minute of silence, both of them staring out upon the prospective battlefield, the captain said "It's nice of you to join us out here. None of us can recall the last time an elder deigned to travel out this far."

"You're most welcome captain. It has indeed been far too long since elders have truly led as they once did. I intend to rectify that." She had grown to very much like this Captain Tulia.

The journey from D.C. to here had given her ample time to get walk the ship and get to know it's crew better, get a feel for what the average Brotherhood solider was feeling. This captain seemed to share much the same vision that she did for the future of the Brotherhood. Samantha needed more people like her, and less of those happy to allow the Brotherhood to become some bureaucratic creature indistinguishable from that of the NCR or Commonwealth.

The captain smiled. "That is very good to hear elder. I am glad to know you stand at the helm in these difficult times. You will not allow us to go soft."

"Aye, I will not allow us to go soft. I am hopeful though that these difficult times will pass swiftly though. A war with the NCR would not serve us well at present."

"Of course not high elder!" the captain exclaimed with a slight stammer. She had clearly been hopeful of war, and was making a poor showing of disguising that fact. Maxson had garnered the impression that while the upper command had grown a little too complacent, the troops under them, the ones actually engaged in active duty, may have become a little too aggressive in equal measure.

This was likely due to the lack of any real threat opposing them anymore, rarely did internal affairs escalate into violence anymore, and when they did they were ended all too swiftly for the common footman's liking. If any of them truly knew the real dangers the Brotherhood was facing she was sure they'd be all less eager to rush into war.

But the fact they were all so eager was the most dangerous factor threatening her plans right now, because if her suspicions were correct, then more then a few of the opposing NCR forces were more then ready to be let off the leash as well. Her gambit in setting up forces upon the river rested upon an expression her father had always loved to tell her, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick." he had said, an expression from an older time but no less pertinent now then it had been back then she felt.

Diplomacy was the greatest hope she had right now, with a lot of faith resting on the envoys of all three factions ability to negotiate all sides down from the brink of all out war. But until that was accomplished she could not allow the Brotherhood to appear cowed, so despite her better judgement in this matter, she had ordered a build up of troops on the river bank as a show of force. It had been the only way to mollify her fellow elders and commanders. But her biggest fear here was it would be construed as an immanent invasion force as opposed to merely 'chest puffing'. She did not want the NCR launching a first strike. She felt like all of them were all playing Russian roulette with a landmine here. No matter what happened, if anyone lost, everyone lost.


	9. March 20th - Western Ruins of St Louis

The sound of boiling water was like music to his ears. The luxury of coffee was one very few people could afford these days, so he was grateful for it now. Four hard days of non stop travel had wearied him greatly.  It still amazed him that civilians like him had once been able to cross the entire country in just a matter of hours. These days, unless you were one of the Brotherhoods fly boys, no one got anywhere quickly.

But after having suffered through the ordeal of constant transport changes for near ninety-six hours straight, he was well and truly exhausted. But his arrival to the city had offered him no reprieve or time to rest.  He had been almost immediately escorted to the makeshift negotiations building in the remains of downtown St Louis. After being allowed a quick a nap to shake off his mental weariness, he was now expected to open dialogue with the NCR within the next few hours. All he wanted to do was lie down and get some proper sleep.

As he stood there pouring his coffee a voice suddenly sounded out from behind him. "Good morning Mr Moore!" it said. He turned around to come face to face with a young man, maybe in his mid-20's, wearing full Brotherhood dress uniform.

"Ughh, good morning Mr...?"

"Scribe Valence sir! I have been assigned here as the representative of the Brotherhood for the upcoming negotiations."

"Ah. Well it's nice to meet you scribe Valence."

"A pleasure as well sir. I'm looking forward to working alongside you as co-negotiator!. We'll truly be standing at the forefront of history here!"

"On that we can agree." Adrian said simply.

Adrian took a moment to again size the man up, to his eye he seemed a little young to be representing the Brotherhood. It seemed odd they hadn't picked someone more experienced, or perhaps even an elder for such a task. There must be something he wasn't seeing that had made the Brotherhood elders elect him as their representative.  Perhaps he would find out what that thing was when the negotiations actually commenced. But for now he was just grateful to have his coffee, and after taking a quick slug he felt a bit better, but not nearly enough to feel good. Today was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

Two hours later Adrian found himself on the buildings third floor, sitting in a room with a window overlooking the river. He was sat at a table with two chairs on both sides. Next to him was scribe Valence, who was sitting at rigid attention listening intently. Sitting across from them were the two representatives from the NCR. 

There was supposed to have only been one, but a second had arrived just that morning direct from the NCR capital out in the far west. Why the NCR felt the need to supplement there envoy with another was beyond Adrian to understand. Perhaps the central government simply wanted someone from their own inner circle to deal with this.  After brief introductions the four of them had settled down to hash out the situation. But before they had begun to do so, the newly arrived envoy by the name Simon Ridge had insisted on reading an official statement he had carried direct from the president of the republic itself. 

"...hope to reach an amicable solution that all sides will find equitable. May these talks be the beginning of a grand new age for all of us. Yours in confidence, President Tahao." Ridge said finishing the letter.

"Thank you Mr Ridge. I don't think it would be presumptuous to say that all present can agree to your president's message of good faith." Adrian said.

"Indeed, we of the Brotherhood can also stand behind such a statement. If it is truly made in earnest." Valence followed up.

"Agreed." said the fourth member of there meeting, a women by the name of Sarah Adolpho. "Right then." she continued. "Now that we have dispensed with introductions and pleasantries it’s time we move on to more uncomfortable topics. Namely the business that has led us all to be congregated here today."

"Yes..." Adrian said at length, it was time to finally start negotiating. "I think the best way to proceed here is if we begin by laying out the state of the world as it is and move forward from there. Would it be agreeable to all if I lay out the facts as best as I can figure them, and then we can see where any disagreements come up?"  They all indicated they were at least accepting of the idea. Opening the notebook he had been writing during his journey here, he began to recount all the information he had been able to gather.

He recounted in detail the events of the last three weeks, from the initial incident at Ruby Gulch to the scale NCR retaliation. The others sat quietly and listened, it was clear that at times each wanted to interject but all held their tongues.  "So then." Adrian said in conclusion. "As it stands, this leaves us with two critical issues to deal with in the immediate. The issue of relieving the Brotherhood forces still holed up in Ruby Gulch, and the tackling of the significant build up of armed forces on both sides of the river. Shall we open the floor up to ideas on resolving these issues?"

Simon started up, "Yes now I've been thinking about-", he was suddenly cut off Valence who made a coughing noise. 

"Sorry to interrupt, but I believe I already have a solution ready for both such issues. I have been sent here today with an offer written and authorised by high elder Maxson herself. It is our leaders hope that these issues can be resolved as swiftly and succinctly as possible."

His sudden interjection had taken everyone else aback. The fact the Brotherhood were prepared to come to terms so quickly was shocking to Adrian. It was completely unlike them to push for a deal so quickly.  It could only be a result of the recent change in high elder. Samantha Maxson seemed to be cut more from the cloth of the old school Brotherhood, much more brazen and a lot less diplomatic. 

"Very well then." Simon said. "Please proceed Mr Valence."

Valence pulled an envelope out of his pocket and cracked the seal. Extracting the letter he straightened it and began to read. 

"On behalf of the Brotherhood of Steel I, Elder Sarah D. Maxson, offer the following recommendation as a hopefully peaceful resolution to NCR-Brotherhood hostilities.” Valence stopped to clear his throat before proceeding.

“We of the Brotherhood suggest the immediate drafting and ratification of an act of non-aggression between the NCR, Brotherhood, and the Commonwealth. This should serve to avoid any current and future conflicts, of which I believe all parties wish to avoid. Included with this letter is a draft version of said pact, but is open for discussion and alteration at the behest of the NCR or the Commonwealth governments.”  Valence then extracted a second letter and opened it, laying the document down on the table for all the others to see. It was the draft of the act the non-aggression pact. 

“Additionally.” Valence pressed on. “As a show of good faith the Brotherhood is ready to cease all operations west of the Mississippi, after the safe extraction of our forces from Ruby Gulch.”

The room went quiet. The two diplomats from the NCR sat there digesting this impromptu offer. Sarah was sat back in her chair deep in thought. Simon was leaned forward examining the document. 

Adrian also sat quietly, he didn’t know what to think. On the one hand this offer meant that these negotiations could be done before the day was over. But on the other he wondered what game the Brotherhood was playing. Why were they so eager to make peace after so many of their own people had been massacred at Ruby Gulch by NCR forces?

After a time Simon leaned back from the document and let out a long breath. “Hypothetically, I can agree with this document. But it leaves a lot of minutia to be sorted out, and I will not sign until the finer points are dealt with.”

“I concur with my colleague here.” Sarah said leaning forward herself. “I want to ensure we don’t make a mistake on a document this important.”

They all turned to stare at Adrian. He stared back for a short while before saying “I concur. Shall we begin then?”

 

* * *

 

The next few hours saw the four representatives arguing over the finer details of the act. While all had agreed on the sentiment of the document, the exact way in which it was executed was another matter. Trying to determine the exact nature of how many forces each would be allowed to field along the river banks was a particular sore spot.

That particular deadlock was broken by Adrian. He suggested making the areas immediately on either of the river a demilitarised zone, with neither side being allowed to field forces any closer then 5 miles away. That seemed to satisfy both the NCR and Brotherhood representatives.  Adrian could now see why the Brotherhood had elected Scribe Valence for this role. He fought passionately for the Brotherhood’s interests, but was able to make compromises that others in the Brotherhood may not have been able to.

The re-drafting of the act ultimately took them well beyond sunset. By the time all parties were happy with it, Adrian was about ready to pass out on the table. A few final minor points remained to be dealt with, but he was done for the day in any case.  The meeting broke at last and they all departed the room. Valence walked with Adrian, he could tell he wanted to start a conversation, but Adrian was no longer in the mood. He was beyond exhausted.  Waving him away Valence took the message and left his side. Walking into the makeshift bedroom that had been set up for him on the second floor he collapsed onto the bed. Ten seconds later he was out cold. It had indeed been a long day.


	10. March 21st - Brotherhood Outpost "White Castle"

The early morning mists drifted silently over the lake. The air was cool, and the sun still lay hidden behind the curve of the world. Ensign Fadius yawned as the end of his shift drew near, another long night of nothing happening. At least he could enjoy the sunrise. The vantage point they had set up in the old Toronto air control tower offered an excellent view, but that was about all it did.

He didn't even know why he was here really. Why had command suddenly thought it necessary to establish a watching outpost in this abandoned city was beyond him. As far as he could tell there was nothing to watch for. But command had been adamant it be set up, but as ever had neglected to explain why. He began to doze in his chair. Four months of being stationed here and nothing happening had grown weary on him, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to remain focused on this waste of time tasking.

Soon the small regiment based at the old airport would awaken and relieve him from his watch. But five minutes of kip before then wouldn't hurt surely. He started to drift off, his thoughts becoming more lucid as he continued to stare with eyes half closed at the control console ahead of him. A light blinked on the panel, but his mind was sluggish and it took a moment for it to fully register. It was one of the sensors set up in the city to detect movements.

Nothing lived in the city anymore, not permanently anyway. The lake was too irradiated for the area to be habitable, and cleaning the area of said radiation was of low priority to the Brotherhood or Commonwealth right now. So seeing movement was a rare occurrence, usually only being a feral ghoul or giant rat. Then other lights started turning on too.

The console started to practically blaze bright as every warning light began to activate. That was ridiculous he thought as he finally came back to his full senses and starting to work the controls. The console was suggesting that practically every sector of the city had things moving through it now. Standing up he gazed out towards the city proper and his heart sunk through the floor. Smoke was rising from the streets between the ruined buildings, and in the further distance he could see what looked like vertibirds swarming towards the airbase itself.

He pulled out his binoculars and focused on the lead bird to figure out who these people were. Emblazoned on the side of it was a sigil that by all rights should have only existed in history books. It was that of the Enclave. That was madness though. Maybe he actually had fallen asleep, maybe this was actually just a bad dream after all. Then the ground shook as explosions within the city rocked the tower which all but confirmed to him this was indeed reality.

He slammed the emergency alarm. If anyone on the base hadn’t been aware they were under attack, they were now. The door to the tower burst open as the commanding officer rushed in to see what was happening for himself. "Damn! I guess command really isn't crazy after all!" he said to himself more than anything.

"Sir I-" Fadius began to stammer but was quickly cut off.

"Get the long range comms unit online now!" he ordered. "We have to alert the other command stations! We have a full scale incursion on our hands here!"

Fadius jumped over to the other side of the tower and started activating the comms unit, getting it set up for a priority transmission. He registered the sound of whirling blades as the bases two Vertibirds lifted into the air to meet the veritable swarm of aircraft bearing down on them.   

"Commander! I have the comms unit ready for transmission!" Fadius cried.

The commander barged over and snatched the talk unit from the side of the console and began barking down it. "This is forward operations base White Castle! We are under attack by hostile forces! We believe them to be Enclave remnants. Repeat, we believe them to be Enclave remnants! Requesting immediate reinforcements from any and all nearby operation units!"

As he continued to bark down the comms unit Fadius found himself suddenly alert to the outside as a shock wave hit the tower. Every remaining pane of glass in the tower shattered simultaneously. The lead of the hostile vertibirds has been torn to shreds by concentrated fire from their own birds. But now they themselves were coming under heavy fire as four more Enclave birds trailed in after it.  

The friendly Verti's began falling back towards the base itself seemingly looking for covering fire, but one of them took a hit from a missile causing it to lose it's steering capabilities. As it careened out of control one of the rotors suddenly tore clean off. It span around for a short while longer before slamming hard down into the dirt and exploding in a grand fireball. The other Brotherhood bird turned to flee but was struck in the rear by three separate shots and ditched hard forward, straight towards the control tower.

With no time to think Fadius grabbed the commander, who was still intent on the comm units, and threw them both through the open doorway. They both tumbled painfully down the stairs beyond. No sooner had they hit the bottom then did the tower lurch violently as the vertibird slammed into it and exploded. The commander groaned as he stood up "Thanks son." he grumbled. "Now double time outside! We have to get out of here as fast as possible!"

Stumbling back outside they both saw Brotherhood men and women suited in power armour scattered around, firing wildly into the air at incoming vertibirds. The commander yelled into his personal comms unit so every person on the field could hear him. "All units retreat to the trucks! We are withdrawing immediately! Now! Before we are overrun!"

With that he started running to the hangar bays they had used to store the vehicles. The sudden movement though of all units towards the hangers must have tipped off very clearly to the enclave what might be stored there. Moments later, no less than six vertibirds converged on the hangers, pouring down missiles and laser fire.

All of the hangers erupted into mushroom clouds as the nuclear powered trucks inside exploded under the hail of fire. "Shit!" the commander yelled activating his comm unit again. "All units new rally point! Retreat to the underground tunnels!" The airport had an elaborate series of tunnels beneath it where a monorail had once passed through. At this point it was there only chance to get out of here. 

Other Brotherhood units ahead of them had reached the main terminal, from which they could access the tunnels. But the Enclave would not give them this reprieve. Another rain of fire from the swarming vertibirds blasted the building apart. The entrance to the tunnel collapsed inward and buried alive the men and women who had been fleeing inside.

"Damn! Nothing it for it now people! Stand and fight! Make them bleed as much as we can!" the commander yelled across the comms. Trucks rolled around the road on to the airfield and started spilling out troops in black power armour. Then they started firing a mixture of plasma and laser shots at them as the Brotherhood looked for cover wherever they could find it.

The ensign soon found himself with the commander and a contingent of five other troops holding up in the ruins of the control tower, which had collapsed soon after the vertibird impact. Enclave forces were pushing towards and around them, until at last they had them fully encircled. Then the shooting abruptly stopped and an amplified voice rang out over the full airfield. "The Brotherhood of Steel." it said as though the women speaking were swirling vomit around in her mouth.

"Rats encased in tin cans, thriving on the garbage of a dead world. How revolting you all are. You represent everything wrong with this world. Trapped living in a scorched wasteland and clinging desperately to the past and its ideals." she proclaimed with true disdain laced in her voice. "But no longer! Now we will assume the mantle we were always destined to uphold, we will ensure that mankind evolves along the paths it needs must. It is time humanity began moving forward once more. But for us to bring our glorious new world to fruition…” she paused for a moment before finishing. “...we must first cleanse it of those who would try and prevent us from achieving that world."

As she finished the Enclave opening up with their weapons, beginning their advance once more. "Damn bastards. They truly have gone insane." the commander growled as he used his sidearm to poke fire over the top of the ruins.

"Commander!" cried one of the soldiers. "We can’t hold them off!"

"You're right. But we can take as many of the bastards with us as possible! Set your armour for maximum overload. If we're going down, we'll go down swinging!" the commander said.

The seven of them sheltering in the ruins all nodded to each other, in mutual silence the five in power armour all began overcharging the fusion cores powering them. Moments later the first units of the Enclave climbed over the top of the ruins poised to shoot down at them.

The commander just smiled up at them and said with complete calm "See you in hell." The last thing ensign Fadius ever thought was 'I hope the next world ain't as shit as this one was.' Then the reactor cores overloaded and they, and all the enclave forces that encircled them, vaporised. Only the all to familiar shape of a mushroom cloud remained, to mark where the men and women of the Brotherhood had stood defiant to the last.


	11. Date Unknown - NCR Frontier Provinces

"A man in a weathered duster." he muttered to himself. It was hardly the best description with which to find someone, but it was all he had. Having now spent seven weeks following his trail he was starting to get close, he could feel it. This long game of cat and mouse between them was drawing to an end, and he intended to win. 

Out here in the frontier regions of NCR territory life was rough, the world still a mostly scarred and barren wasteland. Nothing like back in the core regions with its newly developed infrastructure. This meant he spent most nights sleeping in caves or whatever other natural cover he could find, and he loved it.  The world back home was a little too precious these days for his taste, he wanted a little more rough and tumble in his life. That’s why he had volunteered for this job, a perfect opportunity to spend a few weeks out in the wastelands. Unfortunately his quarry also seemed to have a perchance for this lifestyle, making it difficult to track him.

As a ranger, it was his job to find this man and bring him back for questioning. But the man in the duster had proven elusive. Each time he had closed in on him and nearly pinned him down, he always managed to slip away.  He now figured the only way he was ever going to get his hands on this guy would be to get ahead of him. Working out where he was heading was proving difficult though.  His movements seemed totally erratic, constantly moving in new arbitrary directions. This was likely his own fault though. The man was likely just trying to throw off his pursuit. 

He pulled out his map of the local area and lay it flat on a nearby rock. It was criss-crossed with pencil lines and circles, all charting the movements of the man in the duster. In the course of his pursuit he had been led through no less than thirteen towns, four of which had been in open rebellion against the central authorities by the time he had arrived.

The situation along the frontier was getting ever more dire by the day, many people out here felt forgotten or abandoned by the NCR central government. But that shouldn’t have been grounds for them to rise up in insurrections, and certainly not as frequently as was occurring. No, something else was at work here.  He had a strong suspicion though that the man he pursued had something to do with it all. He also suspected his superiors knew a lot more than they pretended too. There was a much bigger game being played, he just couldn’t figure out what it was or who was playing.

He surveyed the map for a full ten minutes, trying desperately to figure out where his quarry would go next. Finally he made a decision, he wasn’t sure it was the right one, but he had a strong feeling about it.  He set off south. If he could reach the town of Veredas before tomorrow evening he stood a good chance of hopefully cutting off his target.

The sun hung low in the sky when he finally stopped to rest. Travelling at night was something he tried as a rule to avoid. He would set off again at first light, with any luck he would reach the town by early afternoon tomorrow. Finding a small cave, and after checking it for wildlife, he made a small campfire and had dinner. Pulling out his pocket book he noted down the details of his day inside while he ate. He had found keeping a journal helped to stop him from forgetting important details, a fact he had learned early on in his days as a ranger. As the sun vanished below the horizon he smothered the fire, and laying his back against the wall, drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

He awoke to the sound of crackling wood and the soft glow of a fire illuminating the cave. It was still dark outside. Something was very wrong. He instinctively reached for his gun, but found it absent.

“Looking for this.” a voice sounded from across the fire. Now fully conscious the ranger stared across the cave to see a man in a weathered duster sitting on a rock, his eyes were glued to a book he held. In his one free hand he held aloft the rangers pistol, dangling it by the trigger.  “You really have seen a lot in your travels Ranger.” the man said again flicking the page of the book. The Ranger now recognised it as his pocket book. “Been all over the wasteland looking for me.”

He was in mortal peril but losing his cool now would only get him shot. Maybe he could talk his way out of this, it was his only real hope.  “Aye. You could say that.” he said casually. He needed to project that he was calm, that the man hadn’t rattled him.

“Tell me. Do you even know why you’re tailing me? Cause based on your little book here I reckon you really don’t.” the man said.

“I can’t say that I do. But I figure that I’m starting to put some of the pieces together. Seems to me every town you pass through ends up with at least a few rowdies, if not a full uprising.”

The man in the duster smiled. “Yeah I reckon you’ve put some pieces together. But you can’t even see what the puzzle looks like yet.”

“Then fill in the blanks for me. Why rile up trouble like this?” the ranger asked.

“Sorry friend.” the man responded. “I don’t work that way. I ask the questions. Not you.”

Then the man went silent for a time, continuing to flick through the diary. For his part the Ranger also sat quiet, thinking hard, working through ways he might get out of this alive. The fire burnt itself low before finally the man closed the book and looked back at the ranger. “So tell me what did you come up with?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” the ranger replied somewhat confusedly.

“I’ve seen you in the corner of my eye, lost in thought. So tell me, what’s your plan for leaving this cave alive?”

That caught the ranger off guard. In truth nothing he had come up with seemed like it would work against this guy, he was too on top of things. He chewed on his response for a while before saying “None. I know a hopeless situation when I see one. There ain't’ nothing I can say that would convince you to let me go I reckon.”

“So you’re just going to lay down like a dog and die? That’s not the impression I got of the man I just read about.”

The ranger remained silent. He would face the end with dignity, not sitting at this mans feet begging for his life. It all ended the same anyway. When it became apparent he was not going to respond the man sighed. “Well I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I had hoped for more from the man sent to capture me.” The ranger continued to stay silent.

“Well then I guess there’s no point dragging out the suspense is there.” he said standing up. “Here’s the thing Mr Miles. Despite what you may believe you actually do get to walk out of this cave alive. But I wouldn’t celebrate that fact. Because you’re going to help me.”

The look of indignation on the rangers face said more than words ever could. But he still spoke them anyway. “Why in the hell do you think I would help you?”

“Cause I ain't giving you a choice. You and I are going to walk to Veredas, and only then will I kill you.”

“What purpose does that serve!? You just trying to make a statement?” The ranger had lost his cool by now. Why wasn’t he just going to kill him here and be done with it? What was his game?

“The why of it is irrelevant as far as your concerned. But if you behave yourself on the way, I promise to tell you ‘the why’ before I shoot you.” Now the man levelled the gun at the ranger. “Now stand up, we still have some miles to cover. Sooner we start, sooner this can be over with.”

 

* * *

 

The sun had reached its zenith by the time they came within sight of the town. The eight hour trek had been wearisome, but the man in the duster had allowed no breaks. During their march here the ranger had considered a half a dozen plans to escape, but the barrel of the gun pointed ever at his back had deterred him each time.

“Well. We’re here.” the ranger said with disdain. “Mind telling me now why we walked all the way here?”

“Cause it was a hell of a lot easier than dragging you here.” the man replied. “Now I told you that you would be helping me. And now you finally get too.”

“Turn around and kneel.” the man in the duster ordered. The ranger remained stubbornly standing, facing away from him. The man sighed and the ranger suddenly felt something thwack him in the back driving him down to his knees.

“We can do this the hard way if you like Mr Miles. I ain't got no qualms with that.” the man said.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. Tomorrow morning that town down there is going to wake up to find an NCR ranger hanging from its gallows. Now, ain’t none of them gonna know how he rightfully got there, but be there he will.” The rangers stomach flipped, he now knew what the man planned.

“Now I reckon the local authorities won’t take too kindly to that. Might just crack down the whip a bit too hard on the innocent people of this town. Word of that spreads around, I reckon even more people out here are gonna get riled up. See where I’m going with this Mr Miles. I reckon you do.”

Framing an innocent community for murder. Knowing what the NCR, already dealing with rebellions up and down the frontier, would do in response. He had been planning this probably ever since the ranger had started tailing him. This might well be the spark that turned the small scale rebellions into a full scale uprising of the frontier regions.

“See Mr Miles. I’ve been setting up this chess game for a long time now. A long time. I’m a piece on that board just like you. Except I’m a knight, and you’re a pawn. But this last play, the play to win? Well lets just say the pawns day has come.” the man said. Suddenly a rope appeared around the rangers neck. Then it tightened until he couldn’t breathe.  The ranger clawed desperately at the rope, but to no avail. He started to choke, his lungs starved of oxygen. Things started to go black, the world fading before him. One last voice rang out in his ears. “I believe that’s checkmate, Mr Miles.” Then the ranger knew no more.


	12. March 22nd - Brotherhood Command Airship [Stationed over eastern Mississippi river bank]

"Attention all hands! Prepare for cast off! Stand by for immediate departure!" rang the voice over the ship wide PA system. Brotherhood soldiers ran too and fro as they desperately tried to get the ship ready to leave.  In the operations room Sarah Maxson leaned over a holographic map of the west coast, her hands resting either side of the console. With her were the few lead unit commanders that had transferred to the front with her, as well as the ship's captain. 

She was frantically trying to grasp the nature of the assault being lead by the Enclave, while simultaneously trying to marshal Brotherhood forces into an organised retreat. As she stood there thinking, her lieutenant was stood next to her reporting, relaying the situation as it was known to the group. 

"...outposts are too disperse along the northern border. They've only ever been simple monitoring stations and the enemy are using that against us. They're too isolated from each other and main line forces to individually pose a legitimate threat, so they're just picking them off one by one. At this rate of loss of ground we estimate that-" the lieutenant was cut off as Sarah raised her hand to command silence.

"I want all units north of Pittsburgh and New York to fall back and consolidate in those cities. A full tactical retreat is the only we survive this. If we do not contain this at the northern border we risk everything." she said. In response to that her lieutenant nodded and ran from the room to transmit the orders.

"Elder!" said the captain. "What about Boston? Do we evacuate our people there too?" It was a legitimate question and one with no easy answer. The city held a considerable garrison of Brotherhood units and assets, not to mention it was the seat of the Commonwealth parliament.  But alone against such an offensive she feared the city would not stand, and would likely be eventually overrun without reinforcements. But she had none to offer, not without overstretching her forces. What to do...Wait! She did have an asset, a powerful one that might just tip the balance enough to ensure the cities survival.

"Negative. The garrison forces in Boston will hold and work with the Commonwealth to reinforce the city for protracted siege. Commander Rorick, I need a priority communique sent to the Victorious. She is to set sail immediately for Boston and render assistance in the cities defence."

The Victorious was her ace in the hole. A full refit and functioning aircraft carrier, it represented the pinnacle of Brotherhood capabilities. Currently sailing up near Nova Scotia she had been sent to monitor reports of Enclave activity near Quebec, but the time for monitoring was over. Events were moving far faster apace then she would have liked, but that was out of her control.

This incursion could not have come at a worse time either. The NCR still had forces massed on the opposite side of the river, and the non-aggression pact she has created had yet to be signed.  While the diplomats had at last drafted a document that pleased all of them, the NCR representative had been insistent that there own government would need to ratify it. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid.

The NCR central government would no doubt spend days or even weeks debating it, time she could ill afford to be worried about another potential war front. She could not hide the massive withdrawal of troops from the NCR, and more then likely by now their own informants had informed them of the Enclave invasion.  It would only take one rebellious military leader to see the opportunity presented. A perfect chance to cross the river and assault the Brotherhood while they were distracted, it’s what she would have done if she had been inclined that way.

At least the Commonwealth had had the good sense to empower their diplomat with the ability to negotiate a treaty on behalf of the government itself, meaning they had presented no problems to proceedings. She was taking what little good news she could today.

A knock on the door jarred her from her thoughts. One of the commanders opened it to find an ensign on the other side. “Sorry to interrupt sirs!” she said slightly breathlessly. “But the ship is ready for departure and captain Ophilia is required on the bridge.” Samantha nodded to the captain who saluted and took her leave.

The next few minutes was a whirlwind of issuing orders. All the while she continued to try and get a solid mental picture of what was going on. The operations command aboard the Vestial was good to be sure, but it was nothing compared to her command centre back in DC. She needed to get back there as fast as possible, she needed to take command of the situation.

After all her commanders had scurried away to execute her orders she was left alone with her thoughts again. This was the most dire situation the Brotherhood had ever faced, and it was up to her to lead them through it.  This could only end two ways. Either this would end up being the Brotherhood’s finest hour, or it would be their final brazen act before falling into ruin like old world before it.


	13. March 27th - Commonwealth fringe territory (Near ruins of St Louis)

**** Adrian took a long draught of his drink. He just wanted to cry, but his tears were all spent by this point. Boston, his home, was under attack. He had no idea if his family had got out in time, his wife and kids could be almost anywhere. The Brotherhood were of no help to him either, refusing to give him any information or to help him get back to the west coast.

As soon as the Enclave had shown up, all the aid that had been providing had dried up. They’d packed up and abandoned him out here. The peace treaty he had been sent out here to acquire had, in an instant, been rendered almost irrelevant.  With no way home, and his mission rendered totally pointless, he had turned to one of the few solaces a man in his situation could count on. Alcohol. If he couldn’t bury his sorrow, he could at least try and drown them. That’s how he had ended up this bar in the middle of virtually nowhere.

It was in this state of self pity that Adrian found himself as he spied his eye around the bar. As he gazed around something caught his attention. A man sat in the shadows staring at him, located in the corner of the place he could see his eyes watching him. Adrian turned back around, he was seeing things, he must have just been responding Adrian’s own stare.

He didn’t turn back around to check, but he didn’t have too. A few moments later the man sat down on the empty bar stool next to him.  “Adrian Moore?” he said in a deep set voice.

“Yeah. Who wants to know.” Adrian was typically not the combative type, physically or verbally. But in this case he was in no mood to chat. The alcohol wasn’t helping either.

“An interested party. You were recently involved in the diplomatic effort to resolve the NCR-Brotherhood conflict correct?”

“Yeah. What of it. Hardly means anything now. Worlds gone to shit anyway.” he said into his drink.

“I think it still means a great deal. Establishing a formal peace will go a long way to ensuring the border region remains stable. But me and my associates are interested in a much wider picture.”

“What are you talking about. What does ‘a much wider picture” mean?” Adrian said, a slight edge entering his voice. What did this guy want?

“Exactly what it sounds like. The wasteland is a large and often volatile place Mr Moore. There are many moving parts to it all. But too many people become bogged down in looking at smaller pieces of this picture. We attempt to look at the whole thing.”

“Uh-huh. So tell me. What did you learn looking at the ‘bigger picture’.” Adrian said scoffing.

“A great deal. Mr Moore. Have you ever actually sat down and looked at the state of the world. I mean truly looked at it objectively.”

“Sure. It’s shit.”

“Mr Moore. I’m being serious. Let me see if I can explain to you what I mean.”

“Sure go ahead. Enlighten me kind sir.” he said sarcastically.

“Very well. Don’t you think it’s strange the Enclave have just suddenly re-appeared out of practically nowhere. Over a century in hiding and they choose now of all times to emerge from hiding?

“They could see the Brotherhood massing for war against the NCR. Now was the obvious time to invade. That’s pretty obvious to me.”

“So riddle me this then Mr Moore. They have waited this long, why not wait a little longer? Until the two sides were truly at each others neck. Wait for the Brotherhood to be weakened and then invade?

“I don’t know. Poor decision making?”

“Too convenient an answer for my liking Mr Moore. No. In truth I believe their premature assault was inspired by you. Or more accurately by the apparent success of the diplomatic efforts that were being made.

 “So they invaded ‘cause they thought the Brotherhood and NCR were getting to buddy buddy?”

“No. I think they invaded because you messed with someone else’s plan. Someone who wanted those peace talks to fail. Then when they didn’t fail, they pushed the Enclave into an invasion to throw a spanner in the works.”

“Who’s this someone?”

“That Mr Moore, is that right question. There is a much bigger game being played then you can understand. Someone is manipulating all these conflicts. Pulling the strings from an unseen source. Me and my associates would like to find out who.”

“And who are ‘you’ exactly?”

“A member of a very special task force. Me and my fellow members have been tasked with finding out who is behind all this and bringing them into the light.”

“And who tasked you with this?”

He smiled. “Officially? No one. Unofficially? NCR Rangers.”


	14. March 28th - Boston

Dust settled down onto her from the ceiling above. The constant sound of explosions and gunfire was an inescapable nightmare. Lieutenant Barrow walked through the tunnels of the dugout, a tight squeeze in her power armour. Her few hours of R&R were up. It was time to return to the hell awaiting her outside.  This was now the fourth day of the Enclaves assault on the city. As far as she could tell they had come out of nowhere. It almost felt like they had jumped right out of the pages of a history book to threaten the world once again. Kind of like some sort of vengeful spirit.

All around her lay wounded soldiers of both the Brotherhood and Commonwealth. The initial strike against the city had been devastating, civilians who had been unable to flee had been massacred en masse.  Outer perimeter units, assigned to defend key areas just outside the city, had been forced to retreat. That or they had simply been overwhelmed almost immediately by the onslaught. By the end of the first day the Enclave had breached all the outer defences, actually managing to enter the city itself.

It had been there where there advance had been greatly slowed down. In the brutal street to street fighting the Enclave forces had become bogged down, the two sides had stalemated. Then on the third day hope had arrived in the form of the Victorious. She had had sailed into the Boston bay and launched a devastating counter attack on the Enclave. Striking both front lines forces and deep behind enemy lines, the arrival of the ship had turned the tide of the battle in a single magnificent hour. But many Enclave forces remained holed up around the city, forces that needed to be expunged the hard way. That was her and her men’s duty. She would see this city liberated, and the Enclave driven back into the nightmares they had leapt out of.

Opening the blast door affixed to the front of the dugout complex, she stepped out into a small sheltered alcove of the city. Just a few meters away from the entrance were the streets, where the sound of gunfire echoed continually up and down them.  Close behind her came the men and women under her command. They like her were exhausted, but unlike them she wasn’t allowed to show it.

“Alright you asses! Command has tagged a priority target down at the harbour! The Enclave are doing something down there and command don’t like it! So we get the pleasure of stopping them from doing whatever it is there doing!”  Despite how tired they were, she was met with a chorus of ‘Ooo-Ras’ from the assembled group. Taking that as her cue she motioned them to move out.

 

* * *

 

Following a gruelling two hour struggle, the contingent finally managed to fight there way down to the waterfront. The Enclave were putting up stiff resistance, they did not want the Brotherhood finding out what they were doing down here.  From there new position it became obvious what they were protecting. A multistory building a little way further around the bay from them. It was a veritable swarm of Enclave forces, buzzing with constant activity. It was clearly a makeshift headquarters for them. Getting in there would not be easy.

“Any recommendations Ackerson” Barrow whispered to her second in command next to her.

“Nothing that won’t get the whole platoon wiped sir.” she replied.

“That’s what I feared…” Barrow said. They needed to get in there, retreat wasn’t an option. Command was picking up some odd signals emanating from the area and wanted them shut down. That meant she’d likely have to risk her whole platoon just to do so.

“What we need to do...is thin out the herd.” Barrow said quietly to herself.

The commander must have overheard that and thought she was talking to her as she said, “If we can get our forces to step up the pressure elsewhere, then they’ll likely have to deplete their own forces here to reinforce them. That could give us an opening.”

“Good idea. Let me contact command and see if they can’t help us make that happen.” she said moving to engage her comms unit.

Twenty minutes later they watched as multiple units suddenly vanished off into the city in a rush to aid their comrades. Now was there chance. Silently she rose the platoon from there covered positions and advanced forward towards the building. It was only a few hundred meters or so, but she there was no cover available so it was only a matter of time until-

Gun fire erupted at them from the base of the building as Enclave units on the floors above spotted them. “Charge them! We can’t afford to get bogged down out here!” she yelled into her comm unit as she started bolting forward herself.

Her armour offered her the ability to move much faster then she would normally be able to move. As such, she reached the base of the building in twenty second flat, with only a few dents in her armour where bullets had pinged it. Others in the platoon had been less lucky.  Concentrated ballistics and laser fire had wiped out around a quarter of the platoon before they had managed to cover the distance. She pushed out her thoughts of the dead and focused on the living, she could still help them.

As she reached the building she came into contact with two power armoured Enclave soldiers. They still had there weapons levelled, but were aiming past her. As such they were too slow to respond as she grabbed one of their arms and yanked it. Despite the weight of the armoured soldier, the strength of her own power armour was enough to pull them forward and topple them to the ground. The second tried to turn to aim at her, but was suddenly struck down by multiple plasma bolts from other Brotherhood forces close behind her.

Quickly dispatching the person she had pulled over with a shot in the head she moved forward into the building itself. The atrium was full of unmanned barricades, the troops who had guarded them gone elsewhere in the city. Only a small number had remained and were quickly dispatched with little trouble.  She stopped to take stock of the situation. Pulling up a list of casualties being fed to her she noted that on top of the quarter killed, another fifth were down with injuries. She ordered a small detachment to take up positions behind the barricades and guard the entrance and wounded. Those hurt but still able to fight were also ordered to assist the detachment in its defence.

With there flank covered she began ordering troops up the stairs, heading up to the buildings higher floors. The Enclave stationed up there were clearly prepared for this. The tops of the flights of stairs swiftly became slaughtering grounds, as any Brotherhood troop who reached the top was quickly torn apart by concentrated fire. It quickly became apparent that anyone sent up that way would be massacred, so she ordered them back down and to hold at the ground floor. She needed to break those upstairs forces quickly to avoid becoming pinned between them and any reinforcements from outside.

“This is Lieutenant Barrow communicating to any friendly forces!” she said into her suits radio. “Requesting relief at these coordinates! Repeat. Requesting relief at these coordinates!” she followed up transmitting her position over the comms system.

A few moments later she got a response. “This is V-74 responding to Lieutenant Barrow. Stand by for inbound vertibird gunfire. Please advise where you need the fire.”

“First floor and upward of multistory building at coordinate position! Advise, friendly forces are based on ground floor. Engage only first floor and above!

“Roger Lieutenant. Stand by for hellfire.” the vertibird pilot responded.

“Look alive people!” she yelled at her contingent. “Danger close! Vertibird fire inbound! Be ready to move up on my signal!” The sound of whirling blades reached them as the vertibird soared in over the water towards them. Staring out of the ground floor window she watched as it pivoted 90 degrees and opened up on the first floor with its side mounted mini gun.

She could hear the chaos unfolding up stairs as Enclave troops were mown down and walls ripped to shreds by gun fire. A full minute passed before the vertibird pilot contacted her. “First floor clear Lieutenant! We are proceeding to the next floor but be advised we are running low on munitions. We can only cover you till the third floor, after that we’ll need to bug out.”

“Understood V-74!” she replied. “All right then!” she said, now shifting to talk to her platoon. “Move upstairs to the first floor now! We only have coverage till floor three so enjoy the sequester! Keep eyes sharp for any survivors, now move!”

The platoon again moved upstairs and was met with zero resistance. The walls were painted red and torn to pieces. Gore coated multiple surfaces, marking where the mini gun had reduced Enclave troops to little more than chum. A lifetime ago the lieutenant would have felt nauseated by the sight. Now it was little more than another part of her reality.

The next two floors told much the same story, with all Enclave troops either dead or badly wounded. The Vertibird had certainly done its job well. It had saved her whole damned platoon. She made a mental note to buy the pilot a drink later.  The fourth floor proved quiet, as did the fifth and sixth. It would seem most of the forces had moved to the lower floors to try and halt the Brotherhood there. The few troops they did encounter were quickly mopped up and disposed off.

They advanced in this way till they reached the ninth and final floor of the building. It was there that they finally found the source of the strange transmission.  Lieutenant Barrow entered a room with a startling view of the bay from it, it was definitely an excellent lookout position. Even the Victorious someway out in the middle of bay could be clearly seen.

There was a desk set up in front of the window with some kind of long range transmitter set up on it. Looking more closely she could see it was connected to a hastily set up communications dish outside. Only static was playing over the speakers.  The desk was also covered in papers with hastily scrawled notes on them. A lot of numbers and calculations were immediately apparent, but she couldn't make any sense of it. “Faro! In here now!” she called over the comms. Her tech specialist burst into the room slightly breathless forty seconds later.

“Tell me what you make of these.” she said indicating the paperwork. He moved over and started shifting through the paperwork, after a few moments his brow furrowed.

“They seem to be some kind of triangulation calculations. I can’t tell what they’re trying to line up though. There’s a bunch of coordinates scribbled across here too. Let me see if I can…” he trailed off. Moments passed he pulled out his map device and started playing around with it. Based on recovered pip boys, the device had proven very useful for units not suited in power armour.

“Sir…” he said slowly. “The coordinates are for where the Victorious is anchored…”

“Well why would they want to know that? I mean they can see it clearly anyway, why know its exact position?” Barrow asked.

As if in answer to her question the static over the radio abruptly ended and a voice played over it. “Coordinates locked. Firing in T minus. Ten. Nine. Eight...”

“Victorious!” she cried into her comm unit. “This is lieutenant Barrow! Recommend immediate tactical evasion! Repeat recommend immediate tactical eva-”

 

* * *

 

A blinding light seared her eyes from from outside the window. The sound of an almighty explosion shattered the window, and the following blast wave sent everyone in the room not in power armour sailing into the wall behind them. The building shook violently as the ground beneath it rocked backwards and forwards. Below them, the base of the building was suddenly inundated with water as a minor tsunami flooded in from the bay. 

Blinking away the lights dancing in her eyes, she tried to get a grip on what had just happened. Where the Victorious had once been, now rose a billowing black column of smoke. The bay was a frothing turmoil of agitated water. The ship itself was mostly gone, large pieces of its remains could be seen floating around. 

Some had travelled further, smashing into buildings and streets and becoming embedded in them. The entire scene was one of utter bedlam. In an instant the pride of the Brotherhood had been vaporised off the face of the Earth. Some of their finest divisions had been stationed aboard her, now they were gone too, obliterated in an instant.  She didn’t know what they had done exactly, or how they had managed it, but somehow the Enclave had managed to do it. If the Enclave were capable of this level of destructive firepower, there was little hope for the Brotherhood. How could they ever surmount such an enemy?

She became faintly aware that the radio was again transmitting, the voice of a man beaming across it. “...all units consolidate and counter attack. Repeat, consolidate and counter attack.” 

She shook herself. No matter what she would not give in. If nothing else she needed to avenge the Victorious and those who had served aboard her. But more importantly she needed to keep her own troops alive, and to do that she needed to be a rock for them.  Turning to her still stunned troops she said “I don’t know how they managed to do that. But we still have a job to do here! We’re now the only things left standing between the Enclave and claiming the city! So shake it off and get ready to move!” she bellowed across the comm unit. She was hoping it would shake them out of there shock.

She was still in shock herself, but she had to bury that deep. These men and women needed a leader now more than ever if they were going to survive. If that's what she had to be, then she would damned well be it. This battle was far from over, not while they still could fight.


	15. March 30th (Midday) - Brotherhood Central Command (Pentagon)

It had been a tough week. That was the generous way of putting it. Sarah Maxson sat at her desk pouring over field reports, trying to get a handle on the situation and formulate an appropriate counter response.  The devastating news that the Victorious was now lying at the bottom of the Boston bay had been a personally very painful thing for her to hear. Many of the CO’s aboard had been men and women she had personally appointed. Her captain had been someone she had considered a friend. But they were gone now, destroyed in an instant.

But beyond her own personal grief at the ship's loss, its destruction had incurred a far worse penalty then any strategic significance it had ever held. The news of its sinking had proved a crippling morale blow for the entire Brotherhood. The faction was now effectively in full retreat, with forces rallying in New York and Pittsburgh for the inevitable Enclave push.

Boston now once more lay in ruins, undoing a century of hard work rebuilding it in the course of a single week. Unified resistance in the city had collapsed as local command stations had been overrun. Brotherhood or Commonwealth forces that had been unable to flee the ruined city were now acting as guerrilla troops, working to just to keep the Enclaves advance bogged down as best they could.

But her major priority was no longer fighting the threat from the north, it was destroying the threat from above. Solving the mystery of how the Enclave had destroyed the Victorious had proved challenging, but after a full day of intense scrutiny the answer had become apparent. It was an orbital weapons platform.

How they had managed to construct such a thing was beyond her. But the fact they had indeed built it was beyond doubt. The same ranger report that had made her aware of the Enclave’s continued existence had also noted the the launch of a rocket.   At the time that had troubled her, but other matters had proved far more pressing to be concerned about. Now it was the missing puzzle piece that solved the mystery of this new weapons origins. But regardless of where it had come from, it had to be neutralised. The Enclave could not be allowed to wield a weapon that powerful, it undermined the entire defence line strategy she was established.

However she now had to face elephant in the room. How the hell was the Brotherhood supposed to be able to track, and more to the point destroy, something in orbit? The Brotherhood, and for that matter no other faction, possessed the ability to shoot something out of orbit. It may have been possible for the old world to achieve such a feet but it wasn’t a viable strategy for-

Something about that thought caught her attention. The old world. They had been able to do it, surely the secrets of how they had accomplished that still remained buried out there somewhere in the world. Maybe those secrets had already been uncovered again.  But she had no idea where to start looking for such a weapon. If any such thing had been found it would surely be buried amongst the Brotherhoods records, but to go through those would take time. Time she could not afford.

Perhaps though there might be one person she knew who might know. Pressing the page button affixed to her desk she called the attendant outside. “Please summon Head Scribe Dayton for me. Inform him it is an urgent matter.”

Three minutes later Dayton walked into the room and raised a crisp salute. “You requested my presence elder?” he asked.

“At ease Dayton, feel free to speak openly. I want you to speak candidly to me during this meeting. I need answers, and I need to know where and who I can get them from.”

“As you wish Sarah. What’s the problem?” he asked. She and Dayton went way back, he had helped raise her when her father had been to busy to do so. As such he was one of the very few who could call her by her first name without repercussions.

“Well beyond the incursion of the Enclave, and the issue of the massed NCR army on our border, our new most pressing matter is the one that lies far above our heads. That Enclave satellite is now the biggest threat to our defence.”

“The orbital weapons station that destroyed the Victorious?” he said. “Yes, I’ve been reading the reports. I have no idea how they were able to construct and launch it, even less on how to destroy it.”

“Well I’m making that your new tasking order. Neutralising that orbital menace is now your highest priority.”

“That’s a tall order Sarah.” He stopped and stared off into space for a moment before refocusing on her. “But I’ve never let you down and don’t plan to start now.”

“I knew I could count on you Dayton. But as it it so happens, I might have an idea as to where you might start looking. Do you know of any tech the old world may have developed that is capable of this task?”

He took on a thoughtful look and again gazed into the distance. “Old world tech huh…” he mumbled to himself. His face subtly shifted to one of internal debate before very slowly he said “Possibly. I seem to remember a discovery we made back some forty years ago of an old world test site. It’s in the far south of the country, some sort of orbital weapons testing facility. But it was long before I was ever in command, I was only an ensign back then. I’d need to research it more thoroughly before I can say for sure that it could help.”

“Very well Dayton. I’m trusting in you to get this done. Report back to me if you find anything of use.”

“Of course Sarah. I’ll assemble a task force immediately to investigate and explore all options.”

“Excellent. I knew I could count on you Dayton. Now I need-”

 Her buzzer suddenly erupted as her attendant called in, “Elder! Sorry to interrupt, but an Ensign Darsy is out here and says he had been sent with an urgent matter for your attention.”

That couldn’t be good news. “Let him in.” she buzzed back. The door to her office opened to reveal a very exhausted looking young man on the other side.

“Sorry to intrude Elder Maxson! But Knight Commander Morris said I needed to bring you this report immediately.”

“Very well. Hand it over.” As she took the file and started reading it her blood turned cold. “Is this report accurate.” she asked her voice quivering slightly.

“Yes sir! It came with the proper clearance authority from the outpost commander. We’ve been unable to attain any further contact.”

She took a deep breath to try and steady herself. It didn’t work. “Return to Commander Morris and tell him I’m ordering a full scale retreat from the river. I want all forces to establish a new defence line on the core region borders. All fringe territory is to be abandoned, we’re already stretched too thin as it is.” she said. 

The ensign stood for a moment not doing anything, maybe he was trying to process what he’d just been told. She didn't have time for that. “Go!” she roared. The ensign dashed from the room, partially in compliance with the order. Partly in terror.

She started gathering things up off her desk. “Dayton please execute the task I’ve set you. I need to get to the situation room now.” she said standing and moving quickly for the door.

“Sarah! What’s going on?” Dayton asked with great concern.

She opened the door and turned to face him. “The NCR just crossed the river. We’re at war.”


End file.
